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Post by emron on Aug 5, 2017 18:15:57 GMT 12
5 August 1939 US Navy awarded a US$15,505,000 contract to build new naval air facilities in Hawaii, Midway, Johnston, and Palmyra Islands.
5 August 1941 Smolensk, Russia fell under German control with the surrender of Soviet Sixteenth and Twentieth Armies; 300,000 Soviet troops became prisoners of war.
5 August 1943 In Sicily, Italy, German forces withdrew from Troina, while British Eighth Army captured Catania. US Admiral Raymond Spruance, formerly the chief of staff to Admiral Nimitz and from September 1942 Deputy Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, was named the commanding officer of the Central Pacific Force which was later designated as the Fifth Fleet.
5 August 1945 The US Twentieth Air Force's meteorological service predicted good weather for the following day, over the four targets (Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata and Nagasaki in Japan) selected for attack with atomic weapon "Little Boy".
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Post by emron on Aug 6, 2017 18:26:38 GMT 12
6 August 1940 US Army transport American Legion reached Petsamo, Finland to embark American nationals from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands wishing to return to the United States. Operation Tube: British submarine HMS Pandora reached Malta from Gibraltar with ground equipment and spare parts for the Hurricane fighters delivered by aircraft carrier HMS Argus 2 Aug during Operation Hurry.
6 August 1941 The first German strategic reports on progress in Russia claimed that Germany had taken nearly 900,000 prisoners and destroyed or captured 13,100 tanks, 9,100 aircraft and more than 10,000 heavy guns. British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden issued another warning to Japan stating that any action against the independence of Thailand would be regarded as a threat to imperial security.
6 August 1942 Japanese transport Yawata Maru delivered 15 A6M3 Zero fighters and 16 Type 99 D3A carrier bombers to Rabaul, New Britain. In the afternoon, 16 US B-17 Flying Fortress bombers were moved from Mareeba airfield near Cairns, Australia to Port Moresby, Australian Papua for a planned attack on Rabaul, New Britain on the following day. While in Egypt, Winston Churchill decided to replace Claude Auchinleck with William Gott as the head of the British 8th Army and with Harold Alexander as the Commander-in-Chief Middle East. Churchill also separated Iraq and Iran from Middle East into a new command area. When offered command of Iraq-Iran, Auchinleck refused.
6 August 1943 In the Battle of Vella Gulf in the Solomon Islands, three Japanese destroyers were hit by torpedoes. Hagikaze, Arashi, and Kawakaze burst into flames and either sank immediately or were quickly sunk by US naval gunfire. 600 Japanese sailors and 900 Army passengers were killed.
6 August 1945 Atomic bomb “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan from Boeing Superfortress B-29-45-MO, 44-86292 Enola Gay, one of 15 with the "Silverplate" modifications necessary to deliver atomic weapons. It had departed North Field, Tinian piloted by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., the commander of the 509th Composite Group. The release at 08:15 (Hiroshima time) went as planned, and the Little Boy took 43 seconds to fall from the aircraft flying at 31,060 feet (9,470m) to the predetermined detonation height about 1,968 feet (600m) above the city. The detonation created a blast equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT (67 TJ) which was yielded from only 1.7% of the Uranium-235 contained in the device. The radius of total destruction was about one mile (1.6km), with resulting fires across 4.4 square miles (11km2). Some 70,000–80,000 people, 30% of the city's population, were killed by the blast and resultant firestorm with another 70,000 injured.
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Post by emron on Aug 7, 2017 21:15:29 GMT 12
7 August 1941 The first test flight of prototype Grumman torpedo bomber XTBF-1. The production model was later to become known as the “Avenger”.
7 August 1942 Operation Watchtower: Allied forces, predominantly United States Marines, landed on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomon Islands, with the intention of denying their use by the Japanese to threaten Allied supply and communication routes between the US, Australia, and New Zealand. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) had occupied Tulagi and neighbouring Gavutu and Tanambogo in May 1942 and had constructed a seaplane base there. In early July 1942, the IJN began constructing a large airfield at Lunga Point on nearby Guadalcanal. To capture these objectives was the priority in this first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan and started with one of the earliest US amphibious landings of the war. So began the Solomons Campaign. IJN cruiser Tenryu departed Kavieng, New Ireland with five other cruisers for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; the force was spotted by USS S-38, but the submarine could not gain a favourable attack position. 13 US B-17 Flying Fortress bombers took off from Port Moresby, Australian Papua to attack Rabaul, New Britain. Prior to the arrival of the US attack, 17 Zero fighters of the Japanese Tainan Air Group, 27 Type 1 G4M aircraft of 4th Air Group, and 9 Type 99 D3A aircraft of 2nd Air Group were launched from Rabaul area airfields to join the battle in the Guadalcanal area in the Solomon Islands. The US attack caused minimal damage to runways and minor damage to 12 defending Zero fighters. William Gott, Winston Churchill's choice to replace Claude Auchinleck as the head of the British 8th Army, was killed when his aircraft was shot down by German Bf 109 fighters while travelling from Borg el-Arab to Cairo in Egypt.
7 August 1943 The Munda airfield on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, captured by the Americans from the Japanese on 1st August, was declared operational for emergencies.
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Post by emron on Aug 8, 2017 22:45:25 GMT 12
8 August 1940 After several days of little action, the Germans launched continuous operations against the large convoy CW9 in the Strait of Dover. Codenamed Peewit, it comprised 25 merchant ships with Royal Navy escorts. Torpedo boats attacked before dawn, sinking British ships Ouse, Holme Force (killing 6), and Fefe Coast (killing 5). As the convoy travelled westward, 300 Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers escorted by 150 fighters struck, sinking Dutch ship Ajax (killing 4), British ship Coquetdale, and British ship Empire Crusader (killing 5); as the British fought back, 17 Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, 26 Bf 109 fighters, and 9 Bf 110 fighters were shot down, but the RAF also lost 13 Hurricane fighters, 4 Spitfire fighters, and 1 Blenheim bomber.
8 August 1941 The 6th and 12th Soviet Armies in the Uman Pocket in Ukraine were wiped out by German troops; over 100,000 Soviet prisoners were taken. During the night, the first of a series of Soviet air attacks was made on Berlin, by naval Ilyushin Il-4 twin-engine bombers.
8 August 1942 US Marines captured the unfinished Japanese airfield at Guadalcanal at 1600 hours, which would later come to be known as Henderson Field. The US Marines also captured Tulagi (307 Japanese killed, 3 Japanese captured, 45 Americans killed), Gavutu, and Tanambogo (476 Japanese killed, 20 Japanese and Koreans captured, 70 Americans killed) Finally, 26 Japanese G4M bombers and 12 Zero fighters based in Rabaul, New Britain attacked US ships off Guadalcanal at 1200 hours, damaging troop transport USS George F. Elliot and destroyer USS Jarvis (14 were killed); 18 G4M and 2 Zero aircraft were lost on this mission.
8 August 1943 The imprisoned Mussolini was transferred to the island of La Maddalena off Sardinia, Italy. King Vittorio Emanuele III decreed that Italy was under a state of siege. US troops landed at St. Agata, Sicily.
8 August 1944 The German offensive at Mortain, France, Operation Lüttich, was called off after it suffered severe losses to armoured columns from Allied air attacks. Inaccuracy of the American bombing, however, would kill many Canadians, Polish and British ground troops and would wound Major General R. F. L. Keller, commanding officer of Canadian 3rd Infantry Division. Meanwhile, Canadian forces launched Operation Totalize to the south of Caen while the US 15th Army Corp occupied Le Mans,
8 August 1945 At 2300 hours, the Soviet Union tore up the non-aggression treaty with Japan and declared war. The invasion of Japanese-occupied Manchuria would begin 61 minutes later at the start of the following day.
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Post by emron on Aug 9, 2017 23:03:47 GMT 12
9 August 1941 Battle of Britain ace Wing Commander Douglas Bader was captured by German soldiers in northern France. He had been forced to parachute from his crippled Spitfire W3185 after it sustained serious damage that he thought was from a collision with one the German Bf 109 fighters that he was pursuing. He escaped from the cockpit only by releasing and leaving behind one of his two artificial legs. After capture he remained prisoner of war for the duration.
9 August 1942 The Imperial Japanese Navy, in response to Allied amphibious landings in the eastern Solomon Islands, mobilized a task force of seven cruisers and one destroyer under the command of Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa. In a night action, during the (first) Battle of Savo Island, Mikawa thoroughly surprised and routed the Allied force, sinking one Australian and three American cruisers, while suffering only light damage in return. USS Quincy sank at 02:38; USS Vincennes sank at 02:50; USS Astoria continued burning and sank at 12:16; HMAS Canberra was badly damaged and ordered scuttled at 06:30 which took some 300 shells and five torpedoes from destroyers USS Selfridge and USS Ellet before she succumbed. Destroyer USS Jarvis which had been damaged on the previous day, was sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers from Rabaul, New Britain at 1300 hours; all 233 aboard were killed. Damaged transport USS George F. Elliott afire since the previous day was scuttled during the night by destroyer USS Hull. 1077 Allied personnel died in the naval battle.
9 August 1945 Atomic bomb “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan from the Boeing B-29-36-MO Superfortress 44-27297 Bockscar, piloted by Major Charles W. Sweeney. With poor visibility over the primary target city Kokura, the flight was diverted to alternative Nagasaki where the Fat Man was released and following a 43-second duration free fall, it detonated at 11:02 local time, at an altitude of about 1,650 feet (500m). The blast from the plutonium-239 device was equivalent to 21 kilotons of TNT (88TJ. An estimated 35,000–40,000 people were killed outright by the explosion. A total of 60,000–80,000 fatalities resulted, including from long-term health effects.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 9, 2017 23:15:19 GMT 12
9 August 1941 Battle of Britain ace Wing Commander Douglas Bader was involved in a mid-air collision with a German Bf 109 fighter over northern France. He parachuted from his crippled aircraft by releasing and leaving behind in his Spitfire fighter one of his two artificial legs. He was captured and remained prisoner of war for the duration. This is not true. Research has shown that no Bf109's were lost nor involved in collisions that day, and the truth is he was shot down by friendly fire. The pilot believed to have shot him down, Buck Casson, was also shot down by the Germans and they ended up in the same POW camp together. It is true that he was trapped by one o his legs and had to leave it in the aircraft before bailing out.
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Post by emron on Aug 10, 2017 23:15:25 GMT 12
DB believed that his Spitfire wreck was caused by a collision and it seems that was the generally accepted explanation at the time. I'm happy to change that item.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 10, 2017 23:20:44 GMT 12
I believe they made up the collision story to cover the fact he'd been shot down by one of his squadron mates, not a good look for such a publicity hungry pilot. Apparently there are loads of things in the Brickhill book Reach For The Sky which is pure fiction.
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Post by emron on Aug 10, 2017 23:23:06 GMT 12
10 August 1942 Abandoned by the supply fleet which had only part unloaded before hastily departing the battle zone, the US Marines prepared artillery and defensive positions at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. The Pedestal convoy; 13 merchantmen and the tanker Ohio (escorted by fifty-nine warships), departed from Gibraltar for Malta. Lying in wait were twenty-one Axis submarines and some 800 aircraft. Troops of the German 6.Armee crossed the Don River in southern Russia, reaching the suburbs of Stalingrad.
10 August 1944 The railwaymen of Paris went on strike and hundreds of soldiers awaiting evacuation back to Germany found themselves marooned on station platforms. The acts of random sabotage quickly escalated and within two days, instead of carrying the Germans away from the perils of Paris, the strikers were actively cutting off the German retreat by pulling up rails, wrecking points and crippling locomotives. Even with replacement German drivers the trains were unable to run and all Parisian rail links to the outside world had been effectively destroyed
10 August 1945 Faced with the threat of more atomic bombs and the menace of the Soviets, Japan announced that it was willing to surrender provided the future status of the Emperor could be assured.
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Post by emron on Aug 11, 2017 22:11:21 GMT 12
11 August 1920 Henry Arnold was promoted to the permanent rank of major and was transferred to the US Army Air Service by the US War Department Special Order No. 188-0.
11 August 1921 Dr. E. H. Bennett diagnosed Franklin Roosevelt with a severe cold, but an illness developed that left him permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Diagnosed as polio at the time, his symptoms are now thought to be more consistent with Guillain-Barre syndrome.
11 August 1940 Although the weather was fine, the German Luftwaffe did not start its offensive against RAF airfields, instead mounting a carefully prepared feint. Starting at 0730 hours, Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters bombed and strafed Dover Harbour in southern England as a prelude to a larger attack on Portland Naval base and Weymouth, aiming to draw RAF fighters. Spitfire fighters of 64 and 74 Squadrons responded, but most RAF units remained on the ground per Keith Park's strategy of sending up only enough fighters to counter the German attack and withholding the remaining in reserve. As a larger formation consisted of 56 Ju 88 bombers and 20 He 111 bombers arrived with 97 Bf 110 fighters in escort was detected in the direction of Cherbourg at 0945 hours, there were enough British fighters to counter that attack During the ensuing battle 20 Hurricane fighters, 5 Spitfire fighters, 27 German bombers, and 10 German Bf 110 fighters were destroyed. The day's German bombing damaged 4 British destroyers: HMS Windsor in the Thames Estuary, HMS Esk at Harwich, and HMS Scimitar and HMS Skate in Portland Harbour. British Commander-in-Chief Middle East Major General Wavell was in London to discuss the defense of British colonies in Africa and the Middle East. Seeing events in Somaliland and expecting an Italian attack on Egypt, Winston Churchill's War Cabinet made a far-reaching decision to send tanks to defend the vital Suez Canal. Despite the ongoing threat of invasion, 150 tanks (about half the total in Britain), 48 anti-tank guns, 48 field guns, and 20 Bofors anti-aircraft guns were ordered to Egypt.
11 August 1942 US Marines, using captured Japanese bulldozer and various equipment, continued the construction of an airfield that was to be named Henderson Field. In the Mediterranean, after escorting carrier HMS Eagle was sunk by German submarine U-73, carrier HMS Furious launched 37 Spitfire fighters to Malta, earlier than planned and then reversed course for Gibraltar. All 37 Spitfires were delivered successfully. The first Axis air attacks from Sardinia, against the Pedestal convoy to Malta were beaten off. The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Wolverine rammed and sank the Italian submarine Dagabur as she attempted to torpedo the aircraft carrier HMS Furious, which was returning to Gibraltar.
11 August 1943 Following the crushing defeat at Kursk, Russia, the German forces at Kharkov became in danger of being encircled.
11 August 1944 Lieutenant General Guy Simmonds of the 11 Canadian Corps called off Operation Totalize after it became clear that the expected breakthrough would not be achieved. Nevertheless the Canadian and Polish armoured divisions had advanced eight miles, against numerous well-constructed enemy bunkers which were immune to bombing, and were now half way between Caen and Falais. The Poles had lost 66 tanks and the Canadian slightly more during Operation Totalize. On the same day, US forces captured Nantes and Angers and then moved across the Loire River. In response, the German Navy scuttled 26 warships and 28 merchant vessels stranded at Nantes, Bordeaux, and in the Gironde and Seine estuaries.
11 August 1945 US Secretary of State James Byrnes rejected the Japanese surrender terms offered on the previous day, citing the refusal for any Japanese preconditions. Meanwhile, American aircraft continued conventional bombing of Japanese cities.
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Post by emron on Aug 12, 2017 20:01:55 GMT 12
12 August 1914 The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) consisting of four Infantry Divisions and a Cavalry Division, under the command of Field-Marshal Sir John French, began to cross the English Channel into France.
12 August 1940 20 German Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighter-bombers raided British radar stations along the coast. As the radar station operations were disrupted, almost 100 Ju 88 bombers escorted by 145 Bf 110 fighters attacked Portsmouth and the Ventnor radar station on the Isle of Wight, while Do 17 bombers attacked RAF airfields of Manston, Lympne, and Hawkinge in southern England. Most of the radar stations would be repaired by the end of the day, but the Ventnor radar station would be out of commission for two weeks. Portsmouth was also bombed, killing 100 civilians. Minesweeping trawler HMT Pyrope was sunk by German aircraft (killing 6), so was HMT Tamarisk (killing 7). 55 German aircraft were shot down during aerial combat at the cost of 6 Spitfire fighters and 9 Hurricane fighters. British anti-aircraft guns claimed 7 bombers.
12 August 1941 No. 489 (NZ) Squadron RAF was formed at RAF Leuchars, Fife, Scotland, from New Zealand personnel under the command of Wing Commander J. A. S. Brown. Part of RAF Coastal Command the squadron would see extensive service on anti-shipping strikes in the North Sea and protection of the North Cape convoys, initially operating with Bristol Beauforts.
12 August 1942 A PBY Catalina made a trial landing on the future Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. To the west, US Marine Lieutenant Colonel Frank Goettge's 25-man reconnaissance patrol was attacked by Japanese troops west of Matanikau River; only 3 survived. Meanwhile, Admiral Ghormley ordered US Navy Task Force 63 to devote full effort to transport supplies and personnel to Guadalcanal. Japanese troops marched along the Kokoda Track in Australian Papua toward the Australian base at Deniki. Behind the front lines, three Japanese transports arrived after dark and disembarked troops at Buna. At 1200 hours, British carrier HMS Indomitable of Allied Pedestal convoy was hit by two 500-pound bombs, rendering the flight deck unusable. 10 miles off Bizerte, Tunisia, British destroyers HMS Ithuriel and HMS Pathfinder, escorting the convoy, forced Italian submarine Cobalto to the surface with depth charges, and Ithuriel proceeded to ram and sink Colbalto (2 Italians and 2 British were killed; 41 Italians captured). At 2000 hours, Italian submarine Axum attacked the convoy, sinking British cruiser HMS Cairo (24 were killed, 320 survived), damaging cruiser HMS Nigeria (52 were killed), and damaging tanker Ohio. At 2130 hours, Italian torpedo bombers sank destroyer HMS Foresight (4 were killed). During the night, the Pedestal convoy rounded Cape Bon in confusion; as the Italians continued to attack, three merchant ships were sunk and merchant ship Brisbane Star was heavily damaged. Earlier in the day, 6 Italian cruisers and 17 destroyers set sail from Messina, Sicily, Italy to intercept the convoy Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery arrived in Cairo, Egypt. Winston Churchill arrived at Moscow at 1700 hours. At 1900 hours, he met with Joseph Stalin for the first time at the Kremlin, among other things convincing him there would be no second front at least until 1943 as the Western Allies would soon be invading French North Africa.
12 August 1943 Adolf Hitler ordered the southern portion of the defensive Panther Line to be set up along the Dneiper River in Ukraine, and that the city of Kharkov in Ukraine was to be held at all costs.
12 August 1944 Joseph Kennedy Jr., the older brother of future US President John F. Kennedy, was killed in a flying accident over East Suffolk, England. Lieutenants Kennedy and Wilford John Willy (co-pilot) had volunteered to fly a BQ-8 "robot" aircraft (drone; a converted B-24 Liberator) for the U.S. Navy's first Aphrodite mission. As planned, Kennedy and Willy remained aboard as the BQ-8 completed its first remote-controlled turn at 2,000 feet near the North Sea coast. Kennedy and Willy removed the safety pin, arming the explosive package, and Kennedy radioed the agreed code Spade Flush, his last known words. Two minutes later (and well before the planned crew bailout, near RAF Manston), the Torpex explosive (9600kg) detonated prematurely and destroyed the Liberator, killing Kennedy and Willy instantly. Kennedy had already completed 25 combat missions and was eligible to return home before he volunteered for the drone program.
12 August 1945 Japanese Emperor Hirohito (Showa) ordered his government to surrender.
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Post by emron on Aug 13, 2017 21:35:50 GMT 12
13 August 1914 Lieutenant H.D.Harvey-Kelly of No.2 Squadron RFC became the first British pilot to land in France after the declaration of war, He flew BE2a (471) from Dover to Amiens in 1 hour 55 minutes and was the first to arrive of a flight of 5 aircraft that departed together.
13 August 1940 President Roosevelt sent a telegram to Prime Minister Churchill, noting that "it may be possible to furnish to the British Government... at least 50 destroyers" in exchange for the promise of the Royal Navy never turning over its ships to the Germans even in the event of a German victory over the United Kingdom and for 99-year leases for land for military bases. The first shells fired from German long-range coastal artillery pieces at Pas-de-Calais, across the English Channel, fell upon Dover. German Luftwaffe launched Adlerangriff, Eagle Attack, in the afternoon, but miscommunications in the morning meant some aircraft took off early and suffered heavy casualties. At 1500 hours, 300 German aircraft were launched. 86 Fleet Air Arm and 1 RAF Fighter Command aircraft were destroyed on the ground and 13 RAF Fighter Command aircraft (2 Spitfire and 11 Hurricane) shot down; the Germans lost 87 airmen killed or captured; 40 German bombers and 36 German fighters were lost. Overnight, German aircraft damaged aircraft factories in Belfast and Castle Bromwich. The minesweeping trawler HMT Elizabeth Angela was sunk by air attack on this day off Dover, killing 1.
13 August 1942 Bernard Law Montgomery officially took command of the British Eighth Army in North Africa replacing William Gott who had been killed a week earlier when his transport aircraft was shot down. In the Strait of Sicily, 7 German and 8 Italian torpedo boats attacked the Allied Pedestal convoy, sinking freighters Wairangi, Glenorchy, Almeria Lykes, and Santa Elisa shortly after midnight. At 0100 hours, Italian torpedo boats MAS16 and MAS22 fatally damaged cruiser HMS Manchester 4 miles off Kellibia, Tunisia, killing 10. At dawn, German dive bombers sank freighters Waimarama (80 were killed) and Dorset. Later in the morning, already-damaged tanker Ohio was disabled by further bomb strikes and abandoned for the night. Finally, British fighters from Malta arrived, allowing three Pedestal convoy freighters to sail into Malta. The successful RAF fighter coverage which drove away German air attacks would also force the 6 Italian cruisers and 17 destroyers which had sailed from Messina, Sicily on the previous day, to abandon their mission to intercept the convoy.
13 August 1945 Lieutenant Oscar Perdomo of 507th Fighter Group of US 20th Air Force, became the last air ace of the war (US ace-in-a-day) when he destroyed five Japanese aircraft during an offensive sweep over Kyushu Island.
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Post by emron on Aug 14, 2017 22:17:14 GMT 12
14 August 1940 British and Commonwealth troops engaged in heavy fighting with Italian forces near Berbera, British Somaliland; British commander in area Major General Godwin-Austen requested permission to fall back into Berbera and to prepare for evacuation. Cloudy weather prevented Germans from launching large scale raids against Britain early in the day as planned. At 1200 hours, 300 German aircraft flew over the Dover Strait and attacked Dover and Folkestone in southern England, which drew out 65 Squadron RAF in defence. This left RAF Manston undefended during the attack that came shortly afterwards (though anti-aircraft gun crews were able to shoot down two Bf 110 fighters) At 1545 hours, RAF Middle Wallop in Hampshire was bombed by Ju 87 dive bombers and He 111 medium bombers, killing 3 airmen and 1 civilian. In Portland Harbour, British sloop HMS Kingfisher and tug Carbon were damaged by bombing. On this day, the Germans lost 30 aircraft while the British lost 3 Spitfire fighters and 5 Hurricane fighters.
14 August 1942 British destroyers HMS Penn, HMS Bramham and HMS Ledbury, with minesweeper HMS Rye began towing the previously abandoned tanker Ohio of Allied convoy Pedestal, still carrying her cargo of fuel. Later on the same day, heavily damaged British freighter Brisbane Star reached Malta at 1615 hours.
14 August 1944 Operation Tractable, the Allied advance on the French town Falaise, began at 12:00, when 800 Lancaster and Halifax heavy bombers of RAF Bomber Command struck German positions along the front. As with earlier Operation Totalize, some of the bombers mistakenly dropped their bombs short of the targets, causing 400 Polish and Canadian casualties.
14 August 1945 The Japanese Imperial Council accepted Emperor Hirohito's (Showa's) order to surrender. In turn, Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki notified the Allies that Japan was accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration.
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Post by emron on Aug 15, 2017 22:44:31 GMT 12
15 August 1940 “The Greatest Day” As the weather over Britain cleared up, the Luftwaffe launched a major strike, with aircraft from Norway and Denmark joining their counterparts based in France. A formation of 1,100 German aircraft crossed the Dover Strait before diverging to different targets, damaging aircraft, runways, hangars, and radar stations. At 1850 hours, German Bf 110 fighter-bombers bombed Croydon airfield south of London by mistake, meeting stiff resistance; one of the shot down Bf 110 aircraft crashed into a London suburb, killing 60 and wounding 120. 76 German aircraft, mostly bombers, were lost, the day to become known as Black Thursday to the Luftwaffe. The RAF lost 34 fighters and 18 pilots.
15 August 1942 Tanker Ohio, under tow by three British destroyers and one British minesweeper, arrived at Malta at 0700 hours; she would later sink in Valetta Harbour from the damage but not before her cargo of fuel was unloaded.
15 August 1943 Operation Cottage: Supported by a bombardment from three battleships, cruisers and destroyers and under a protective umbrella of 170 aircraft, 35,000 American and Canadian troops stormed ashore on Kiska Island in the Aleutians only to discover that the Japanese had abandoned it nearly three weeks earlier. Casualties were from booby traps, naval mine explosion and friendly fire accidents. The US Northern Landing Force attacked Japanese positions on Vella Lavella island in the Barakoma airfield region near New Georgia, Solomon Islands.
15 August 1944 Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, began. On the same day, Saint-Tropez was captured by the 15th Infantry Regiment of 3rd US Infantry Division.
15 August 1945 Emperor Hirohito (Showa) addressed his nation via radio, announcing the end of the war. Meanwhile, the Japanese government informed the Allies its willingness to meet the unconditional surrender terms. In response, the US government ordered all hostilities to cease in Asia Before the ceasefire Seafire aircraft of 887 and 894 Naval Air Squadrons of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm downed seven A6M5 Zero fighters at the cost of one Seafire. In company of the US Third Fleet off Japan, HMNZS Gambia recorded that the signal ‘Cease hostilities against Japan’ was made by the Commander Task Force at 11.23 a.m. While the signal was still flying there was a burst of cannon fire overhead from fighters engaging a Japanese bomber. This aircraft dropped a bomb which fell into the sea between the Gambia and HMS Indefatigable. The aircraft was shot down, part of it falling on the after superstructure of the Gambia.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 16, 2017 1:52:07 GMT 12
Wow that was a close call for Gambia, imagine if it was sunk the very moment they were hearing the war was over!
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Post by emron on Aug 16, 2017 21:22:26 GMT 12
On the morning of 9 August cruisers HMNZS Gambia, HMS Newfoundland, and four destroyers, forming Task Unit 37.1.8 under the command of Rear-Admiral Brind, joined with an American task group in a bombardment of the steel works at Kamaishi, a seaport on the northeast coast of Honshu. Kingfisher aircraft from the battleship USS Indiana were employed for spotting and the bombardment lasted about two hours. During the retirement the ships were attacked by a Japanese aircraft, which was shot down by the Gambia. This was possibly the last enemy aircraft to be engaged by gunfire from a ship of the British Pacific Fleet.
About one hundred New Zealand pilots serving wth the Fleet Air Arm on the carriers Formidable, Victorious, Indefatigable, and Implacable took an active part in the attacks – known as ‘Ramrods’ – on Japan in July and August. Sub-Lieutenant (A) T. C. G. McBride, RNZNVR; of 1772 Squadron, HMS Indefatigable, was killed on air operations 10 Aug 1945 when returning from an attack on Koriyama airfield, 30 miles from the coast near Sendai in northern Honshu. He was one of the last NZ airmen to die in the conflict.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 16, 2017 22:17:16 GMT 12
Glen McBride was a very popular chap, many of the Fleet Air Arm veterans I knew knew him well and all said he was one of the best. He was the last new Zealander killed in action in the air war, and there is a street at Ardmore named after him, opposite the cafe.
New Zealanders made up 1/4 of all the pilots and aircrew in the British Pacific Fleet, quite amazing.
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Post by emron on Aug 16, 2017 22:55:55 GMT 12
16 August 1940 Despite being badly wounded and with his Hurricane fighter on fire, Flight Lieutenant James Nicolson (249 Squadron) shot down a German Bf 109 fighter before bailing out. He would later win the only Victoria Cross awarded to a fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain A "Test" Platoon led by Major William Lee and consisting of 48 volunteers from the US 29th Infantry Regiment made the first US Army parachute jump from an aircraft in order to explore the prospect of bringing troops and equipment into battle by air.
16 August 1942 The captured airfield at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands was renamed Henderson Field by the Americans. Far to the north in the Caroline Islands, Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki and 916 men departed Truk aboard 6 destroyers for Guadalcanal to take back the airfield; the remainder of the 28th Infantry Regiment embarked on slower transports, aiming to arrive a few days later. Destroyers USS Colhoun, Gregory, Little, and McKean made the first supply mission for US Marines at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. British carrier HMS Furious departed Gibraltar with 32 Spitfire fighters on board for delivery to Malta; she was escorted by cruiser HMS Charybdis, destroyers HMS Antelope, Bicester, Derwent, Eskimo, Keppel, Laforey, Lookout, Lightning, Malcolm, Somali, Venomous, and Wishart. The US 101st "Screaming Eagles" Airborne Division was activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, under the command of Major General William C. Lee.
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Post by emron on Aug 17, 2017 22:30:15 GMT 12
17 August 1942 In Operation Baritone, British carrier HMS Furious launched 32 Spitfire fighters for Malta; 2 of them were lost during takeoff. MV Nino Bixio an Italian cargo ship transporting prisoners, while sailing in convoy from Benghazi, Libya to Brindisi, Italy was attacked by a British submarine HMS Turbulent, off the southern coast of Greece. Nino Bixio carrying 3200 UK, Dominion and Allied prisoners of war, with another Italian cargo ship, Sestriere, was escorted by 2 destroyers and 2 torpedo boats. Three out of 4 torpedoes fired by Turbulent hit Nino Bixio. One exploded in her No 1 hold and another in her engine room. The third did not explode but grazed her rudder badly enough to disable her steering. Nino Bixio settled in the water but her bulkheads held and she remained afloat. The attack killed 336 Allied PoWs, including 118 New Zealanders in No.1 hold. The badly damaged ship was towed to the Peloponnesian port of Pylos in Italian-occupied Greece, where the bodies of some of the dead were brought ashore. 20 New Zealand soldiers are buried at Pylos, the majority of the dead have no grave but the sea, and are therefore commemorated on the Alamein Memorial, Egypt. The surviving passengers were transferred to prisoner of war Camp 57 near Udine in north-eastern Italy. 211 men of the US 2nd Raider Battalion attacked Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands; it was the first amphibious assault ever launched from submarines (USS Nautilus and USS Argonaut). 9 of the raiders would be left behind by mistake; they were captured, brought to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, and were executed.
17 August 1943 Allied artillery began shelling Italian mainland from Messina, Sicily. The Germans made the first operational use of the Henschel Hs 293A-1 guided missile. It was launched from a Do 217E5s of II/KG100 against British shipping in the Bay of Biscay. Ten days later, an Hs 293 would claim the corvette HMS Egret. The Hs 293 designed by Herbert A. Wagner, was a radio-controlled anti-ship glide bomb with a Walter HWK 109-507 rocket engine underneath, providing 590kg (1,300lb) thrust for ten seconds. When launched from a height of 1,400m (4,600ft) it had a range of about 12km (7.5miles) and carried a 295kg warhead.
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Post by emron on Aug 18, 2017 22:45:53 GMT 12
18 August 1940 The British evacuation of Berbera, British Somaliland was completed after troopships Chakdina, Chantala, Laomedon, and Akbar and hospital ship Vita departed the port, destined for Aden. Australian cruiser HMAS Hobart was left behind to collect stragglers and destroy vehicles, fuel, and stores. Colonial troops of the Somaliland Camel Corps chose to remain in their homeland.
Battle of Britain: On "The Hardest Day" the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy Fighter Command. The air battles that took place on this day were amongst the largest aerial engagements in history at that time. German aircraft also attacked Kenley and Biggin Hill airfields in southern England among other locations, subjecting the airfields to heavy bombing. Losses on both sides were heavy with the Germans losing 69 aircraft and the RAF Fighter Command 34 in the air. However 29 RAF aircraft were destroyed on the ground (including 8 fighters) equalising the total losses of both sides.
18 August 1941 The Butt Report was released revealing the widespread failure of RAF bombers to deliver their payloads to the correct target. The report was prepared by David Bensusan-Butt, a civil servant in the War Cabinet Secretariat who was given the task of assessing 633 target photos taken between 2 Jun and 25 Jul 1941 and comparing them with crews' claims. The conclusion was that of those aircraft recorded as attacking their target, only one in three got within five miles of the intended targets. Postwar studies confirmed Butt's assessment, showing that 49℅ of RAF Bomber Command's bombs dropped between May 1940 and May 1941 fell in open country. As Butt did not include those aircraft that did not bomb because of equipment failure, enemy action, weather, or that failed to find the target area, only about 5% of bombers setting out bombed within five miles of their target.
18 August 1942 31 bombers of the British Path Finder Force conducted their first combat operation since the unit's formation, dropping flares over Flensburg in Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany for the 87 bombers following them. Most of the bombers targeting Flensburg missed and hit the towns of Sønderborg and Abenra to the north, destroying 26 houses, damaging 660 houses, and wounding 4 Danish civilians; 4 bombers were lost on this mission.
18 August 1944 German Seventh Army retreated across Orne River in France, leaving 18,000 men behind to be captured. In southern France, Germans began evacuating from areas near the Spanish border and Bay of Biscay.
18 August 1945 Just after 2 p.m. U.S. Army Sergeant Anthony J. Marchione became the last American killed in air combat in World War II. He was aboard Consolidated B-32-20-CF Dominator 42-108532 "Hobo Queen II" on a photo-reconnaissance mission above Tokyo to monitor the ceasefire. The young man from Pottstown, Pennsylvania died of injuries sustained when enemy fighters attacked despite the Japanese having already accepted the Allied terms of surrender.
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